Art of shoemaking



mll Rf. A. E MNDBLA @694m ART oF SHOEMAKING Filed Nov. 4, 1955 A UQ:

" g lil Patented Apr. 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ART OF SHOEMAKING Application November 4, 1933, Serial No. 696,727 In Great Britain July 25, 1933 13 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of shoemaking and is disclosed herein by Way of illustration with special reference to its applicability to the manufacture of shoes having flexible foreparts. The invention also relates to insoles.

. Heretofore many efforts have been made to produce shoes having flexible foreparts. In some cases an insole has been skeletonized before it has been applied to a last by removing its central portion so as to provide a rim or welt of insole material having an opening in its central portion at the foreport. It is not only difficult to secure such -an insole to a last bottom but also, when the upper is lasted to it, it is apt to be distorted by the reaction of the lasted upper and hence the is completed, which is more or less troublesome.

A method of making shoes has been proposed in which the insole has its central portion left in place until after the lasting operation and in which the central portion of the insole is removed while the shoe is still on the last.

Objects of this invention are to facilitate the removal of the central portion of the insole after the lasting operation.

A feature of my invention comprises an I,insole having the central portion of the forepart connected to its marginal portion only adjacent to its outer face when the insole is placed upon a last. To this end, a cut may be made from the inner face of the insole almost but not quite through the insole along a line between the marginal portion and the central portion, such cut preferably extending also along the ball line. Such a cut may conveniently be made by a die so arranged that it does not cut completely through the material of the insole.

In another aspect the invention comprises a method of making shoes in which an upper and an insole having the central portion of its forepart partially severed from its marginal portion is placed upon a last and the upper worked into lasted position over the margin of the insole and secured in lasted relation thereto. After the upper has become fatigued so that the lasting stress will no longer tend substantially to distort the marginal portion of the insole, the connection remaining between the marginal portion and the central portion of the insole is severed.

Since frequently the overlasted portion of the upper is subjected to a roughing operation to prepare it for attachment of an outsole thereto by cement, it is convenient to utilize the roughing operation to sever the connection between the marginal portion of the insole and the central portion. In carrying out the roughing operation, which is usually performed with a rotary wire brush, the surface of the upper is roughed from a line extending along an edge of the last bottom toward the edge of the overlasted upper, the inner edge of which is frequently treated more vigorously in the roughing operation to bevel it olf. In this operation the roughing instrumentality digs into the surface of the insole at the point Where the marginal portion of the insole joins the central portion and where, in accordance with my method, it has been partially severed, thus destroying the connection remaining between the marginal portion and the central portion. The central portion is then removed and an outsole attached.

Preferably the marginal portion of the outsole is reduced to form at the central portion of its forepart a projection of the same size and shape as the portion removed from the insole. The margin of the outsole may be secured to the overlasted margin of the upper by pyroxylin cementas usual in this class of work, or other usual means, such as through-and-through lock stitches may be employed to secure the outsole to the upper and insole.

In the drawing, y

Fig. l is a perspective view of an insole prepared in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a shoe lasted over my novel insole, a portion of the shoe having been trimmed and the upper roughened;

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail on the line III--III of Fig. 2;

, Fig. 4 is a sectional .detail on the line IV--IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail illustrating the upper-roughing operation and the releasing of the central portion of the insole by use of the roughing tool;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the forepart of a shoe showing the step of removing the central portion of the insole;

Fig. '7 is a transverse section taken through the forepart of the completed shoe;

Fig. 8 is a modied form of insole embodying my invention;

Fig. 9 is a sectional detail showing the upper lasted over the insole shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. is a transverse section through the forepart of a completed shoe made over the insole of Fig. 8.

In the manufacture of shoes having flexible foreparts in accordance with my invention, an insole is prepared as illustrated in Fig. 1 or Fig. 8, in which the central portion 22 of the forepart is nearly separated from the marginal portion 24 by a cut 26 extending from the inner face of the insole (that is, the face next to the foot of the wearer) nearly but not quite through to the opposite or outer face. This cut preferably also extends across the ball line. Preferably the insole is provided on its outer face with a lasting lip 28 which may be formed by channeling in from the edge face of the insole parallel to its outer face, trimming away the margin of the outer flap thus formed, and turning up the remainder of the flap to form the upper-attaching lip 28. The insole 20 thus prepared is attached to the bottom of the last and an upper 32 assembled upon the last and pulled over in the usual manner.

In the lasting operation cement is introduced between the plies of the upper 32 and between the lining of the upper and the margin 24 of the insole. The upper is then worked into lasted position and secured by staples 34 to the lip 28 of the insole, as illustrated in Fig. 3. After the upper has become fatigued and theV cement has set, the lip 28 and the portion of upper material secured thereto, together with the staples 34, are

trimmed off flush with the bottom of the last, as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 2 illustrates the appearance of the shoe bottom after the trimming operation, a portion of the upper having been left untrimmed to show the condition of the work after the lasting operation, This figure also shows the next step, which is the operation of roughing the over-lasted margin of the upper to prepare it for the reception of cement. In Fig. 2 the upper has been roughed along one side of the shoe, as indicated at 36. This operation is usually performed by a rotating wire brush 38, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the operation being carried on from a line on the upper corresponding substantially to the edge of the insole to the line 26 where the central portion of the insole has been partially severed from the marginal portion in accordance with my invention. The action of the roughing brush at this point may conveniently be utilized to sever the remaining connection between the central portion 22 of the insole and its marginal portion 24, thus releasing the central portion of the insole from its marginal portion except along the ball line. Since the central portion has preferably been nearly severed along the ball line, it is necessary only for the operator to tear it away or to use a knife to cut away the remaining fibers which hold it. To replace the material removed from the central portion of the insole without correspondingly stiifening the forepart of the shoe bottom, the margin of an outsole 42 is preferably reduced to form thereon a central projection 44 of a size and shape to fit the opening in the insole made by the removal of the central portion 22. When the outsole 42 thus prepared is attached to the shoe either by permanent cement attachment, for example by the use of pyroxylin cement, or by through-and-through stitches, for example lockstitches, a very flexible shoe is produced which has substantially the characteristics of a turn shoe without having been turned.

While, in the above description, my invention has been described as utilized in the manufacture of shoes in accordance with the method disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,017,856, granted October 22, 1935, in the name of George Goddu, it is also applicable to other known methods of shoemaking. For example, an unlipped insole may be prepared, as shown in Fig. 8, by a cut 26 made part way through the insole to facilitate the separation of the central portion 22 from the marginal portion 24. Such an insole may be assembled upon a last, as shown in Fig. 9, and an upper cement-lasted over its marginal portion, tacks being used if desired temporarily to hold the upper in lasted position. After the cement has set and the upper becomes fatigued, the tacks are withdrawn and the upper roughened, in which operation the central portion of the insole may be released, as previously described, and the shoe may then be completed, as illustrated in Fig. l0, by the application of an outsole 42 prepared in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 7.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An insole having the central portion of its forepart connected to its marginal portion only adjacent to its outer face so as to be readily severable from the marginal portion after the lasting operation.

2. An insole for shoes having the central portion of its forepart partially severed from the body portion including the ball line by a cut made from its inner face, said cut extending into but not through the insole.

3. An insole for shoes having the central portion of its forepart partially separated from the body portion about the forepart and across the insole substantially at the ball line by a cut made perpendicular to the inner face of the insole and stopping short of its outer face.

4.1. That improvement in methods of manufacturing shoes which comprises partially severing the central portion of the forepart of an insole from its marginal portion by cutting from the inner face toward but not through the outer face leaving adjacent to the outer face only sufficient material to take the strain of the lasted upper, assembling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation to the marginal portion of the insole, then completing the severance of the central portion of the insole, removing the central portion, and attaching an outsole to the shoe.

5. That improvement in methods for use in the manufacture of shoes which comprises partially severing the central portion of an insole from the marginal portion by cutting into the insole from its inner face substantially along a, line between the marginal portion and the eentral portion, said cut leaving sufficient material adjacent to the outer face of the insole to take the strain of the lasted upper and prevent distortion of the marginal portion of the insole, assembling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation to the marginal portion of the insole, allowing the upper to become fatigued, then completing the severance of the central portion of the insole, removing it from the shoe, and attaching an outsole in contact with the overlasted upper.

G. That improvement in methods for use in the manufacture of shoes which comprises partially severing the central portion of the forepart of an insole from its marginal portion by cutting from the inner face toward but not through the outer face, assembling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation to the marginal portion of the insole, then employing a roughing tool to complete the severance of the central portion of the insole, removing the central portion, and attaching an outsole to the shoe.

7. That improvement in methods for use in the manufacture of shoes which comprises partially severing the central portion of an insole from the marginal portion by cutting into the insole from its inner face substantially along a line between the marginal portion and the central portion and along the ball line, said cut leaving sufficient material adjacent to the outer face of the insole to take the strain of the lasted upper and prevent distortion of the marginal portion of the insole, assembling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation to the marginal portion of the insole, allowing the upper to become fatigued, then completing the severance of the central portion of the insole, removing it from the shoe, and attaching an outsole in contact with the overlasted upper.

8. That improvement in methods of manufacturing shoes which comprises nearly severing the central portion of an insole from its marginal portion and along the ball line by a cut made from its inner face toward its outer face, assembling the insole with an upper upon a. last, working the upper into lasted relation to the marginal portion of the insole and securing it in lasted position, allowing the upper to become fatigued, completing the severance of the central portion, removing it from the insole, and attaching to the shoe an outsole provided with a central projection adapted to fill the space previously occupied by the central portion of the insole.

9. That improvement in methods of manufacturing shoes which comprises partially severing the central portion of an insole from the marginal portion by cutting into the insole from its inner face substantially along a line between the marginal portion and the central portion, said cut leaving sufcient material adjacent to the outer face of the insole to take the strain of the lasted upper and prevent distortion of the marginal portion of the insole, assembling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation to the marginal portion of the insole, allowing the upper to become fatigued, then roughing the overlasted portion of the upper and simultaneously destroying the connection between the central portion of the insole and its marginal portion, removing the central portion, and permanently cement-attaching an outsole to the overlasted portion of the upper.

10..That improvement in methods of manufacturing shoes which comprises nearly severing the central portion of an insole from its marginal portion by a cut made from its inner face toward its outer face, asse-mbling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation to the marginal portion of the insole and securing it in lasted position, allowing the upper to become fatigued, completing the severance of the central portion, removing it from the insole, and attaching an outsole to the shoe, the outsole being provided with a central projection adapted to ll the space previously occupied by the central portion of the insole.

11. That improvement in methods for use in the manufacture of shoes which comprises partially severing the central portion of an insole from the marginal portion by cutting into the insole from its inner face substantially along a line between the marginal portion and the central portion, said cut leaving suiicient material adjacent to the outer face of the insole to take the strain of the lasted upper and prevent distortion of the marginal portion of the insole, assembling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation with the marginal portion of the insole, allowing the upper to become fatigued, then roughing the overlasted margin of the upper and utilizing the roughing instrumentality to complete the severance of the central portion of the insole from the marginal portion, removing the central portion, and permanently cementattaching an outsole to the shoe.

l2. That improvement in methods for use in the manufacture of shoes which comprises partially severing the central portion of an insole from the marginal portion by cutting into the insole from its inner face substantially along a line between the marginal portion and the central portion and along the ball line, said cut leaving sufficient material adjacent to the outer face of the insole to take the strain of the lasted upper and prevent distortion of the marginal portion of the insole, assembling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation with the marginal portion of the insole, allowing the upper to become fatigued, then roughing the overlasted margin of the upper and utilizing the roughing instrumentality to complete the severance of the central portion of the insole from the marginal portion, removing thecentral portion by tearing it off along the ball line, and permanently cement-attaching an outsole to the shoe.

13. That improvement in methods for use in the manufacture of shoes which comprises partially severing the central portion of an insole from the marginal portion by cutting into the insole from its inner face substantially along a line between the marginal portion and the central portion, said cut leaving sufficient material adjacent to the outer face of the insole to take the strain of the lasted upper and prevent distortion of the marginal portion of the insole, forming on the marginal portion of the insole an upstanding lip, assembling the insole with an upper upon a last, working the upper into lasted relation with the marginal portion of the insole and securing it to the lip, allowing the upper to become fatigued, trimming oi the upstanding portion of the upper and lip, then roughing the overlasted portion of the upper and simultaneously destroying the connection between the central portion of the insole and its marginal portion, removing the central portion, and permanently cement-attaching an outsole to the overlasted portion of the upper.

AXEL E. LINDBLAD. 

